“I went to rent a tuxedo and this is all they had left.”
Spider-Man Adventures #8
Marvel Comics (July, 1995)
“The Alien Costume” WRITER: Nel Yomtov PENCILER: Alex Saviuk INKER: Rob Stull COLORIST: Kevin Tinsley LETTERER: Steve Dutro EDITOR: Sarra Mossoff freely adapted from the story by Avi Arad & Stan Lee and the teleplay by Len Wein, Meg McLaughlin, Stan Berkowitz, & John Semper
John Jameson’s trip to an asteroid reveals a new isotope dubbed “Promethium X” as well as a strange goo-like substance that comes to life and attacks him and his co-pilot just as they enter the atmosphere. They’re forced to crash on the George Washington bridge, and Spider-Man races to save the astronauts when the shuttle is dangerously perched there. However, Kingpin sends the Rhino to collect the Promethium X and Brock gets pictures of the whole incident, blaming Spidey for the theft. Spidey goes down with the shuttle and is covered in the goo. Later that night the goo becomes a shapeshifting costume that boosts Peter’s spider-strength and creates its own webbing. It’s also creating a new attitude for Peter as he tries to ask out Felicia right in front of Flash and then chews the bully out when he actually didn’t do anything, and even snaps at Aunt May when she comes down on Spidey with the rest of the city as Jameson puts a bounty on the web-head’s head. When Spider-Man meets up with the Rhino again he’s strong enough to take him on toe to toe–and even kill the hired goon!
What they got right: They call it “freely adapted” but it’s not that far from the episode as I remember it. They approach Peter’s dream as the symbiote (we all know what it is) tries to take Peter over differently than in the show but close enough to barely be called “freely adapted”. They’re still sticking with the cartoon-style artwork which beats what Marvel was doing in the 90s.
What they got wrong: Well, except Peter still looks like the comic version instead of the cartoon version (which always looked like a more muscular version of Nicholas Hammond, who played Spider-Man in the CBS live-action series of the 1970s).
Recommendation: It’s better than most Spider-Man comics (I think they were in the beginnings of the Clone Saga by this point but I’m not sure) of the time. Even if you’ve seen the episode it’s worth checking out.
BW Media Spotlight 